Historical Investigation Topic

[Ola]

Hey guys!
Do you think that a topic 'TO WHAT EXTENT WAS THE USA HOMEFRONT SUCCESSFUL DURING WORLD WAR II?' would be approperiate for my historical investigation? Or maybe you have any suggestions how should I change it?
Cheers

 

i beg of you to tell me something smart Friends of mine said that historical investigation topic should be somhow controversial, so I'm lost and confused :///

Edited November 15, 2015 by Gaby

[badash_jani]

I think that it might be a little too vague. Since WWII was a total war, and there were a lot of things happening stateside during, you could write a perfectly sound historical investigation on one aspect. Economics, government, women and children, etc. 

[IB_taking_over]

It doesn't have to controversial, it just needs to be something you can argue about.

For example, a history IA titled "When did the Spanish Civil War Start?" is not a good one. The phrasing of this question leads to narrative history, not analytical.

A better question would be "What factors (probably would need to specify which type of factors) led to the start of the Spanish Civil War?" The phrasing of this question leads to a more analytical approach. 

Hopefully that makes some sense, if it doesn't let me know.

 

Hey guys!

Do you think that a topic 'TO WHAT EXTENT WAS THE USA HOMEFRONT SUCCESSFUL DURING WORLD WAR II?' would be approperiate for my historical investigation? Or maybe you have any suggestions how should I change it?

Cheers

 

With your question, it's too broad. It's not a bad question. The U.S. homefront was successful in doing what? (Stopping war, building arms, creating the atomic bomb, beating the Germans, promoting women in the workforce, getting the U.S. involved?) If you try to cover the the entire success of the U.S. homefront you will end up with a 100+ dissertation, or a incredibly superficial 1500-2000 words. Neither of which are good IAs.   

Make your question as specific as you can in order to have the best luck at staying on the "correct path". A broad question leads right to superficial question, which leads to lost marks. 

 

Best of luck to you!

[Ola]

 

I think that it might be a little too vague. Since WWII was a total war, and there were a lot of things happening stateside during, you could write a perfectly sound historical investigation on one aspect. Economics, government, women and children, etc.

So do you think that for example 'To what extent was the propaganda successful in formation of american homefront during the World War II?" is specific enough and would do?

 

 

It doesn't have to controversial, it just needs to be something you can argue about.
For example, a history IA titled "When did the Spanish Civil War Start?" is not a good one. The phrasing of this question leads to narrative history, not analytical.
A better question would be "What factors (probably would need to specify which type of factors) led to the start of the Spanish Civil War?" The phrasing of this question leads to a more analytical approach.
Hopefully that makes some sense, if it doesn't let me know.

 

Hey guys!
Do you think that a topic 'TO WHAT EXTENT WAS THE USA HOMEFRONT SUCCESSFUL DURING WORLD WAR II?' would be approperiate for my historical investigation? Or maybe you have any suggestions how should I change it?
Cheers

 

With your question, it's too broad. It's not a bad question. The U.S. homefront was successful in doing what? (Stopping war, building arms, creating the atomic bomb, beating the Germans, promoting women in the workforce, getting the U.S. involved?) If you try to cover the the entire success of the U.S. homefront you will end up with a 100+ dissertation, or a incredibly superficial 1500-2000 words. Neither of which are good IAs.
Make your question as specific as you can in order to have the best luck at staying on the "correct path". A broad question leads right to superficial question, which leads to lost marks.

 

Best of luck to you!

Thanks a lot! That's very helpfull comment:) So do you think that for example such research question would be specific enough - 'To what extent was the propaganda successful in formation of american homefront during the World War II?" Edited November 16, 2015 by Gaby

[IB_taking_over]

Thanks a lot! That's very helpfull comment:) So do you think that for example such research question would be specific enough - 'To what extent was the propaganda successful in formation of american homefront during the World War II?"

 

I think it should be. I'm not very familiar with the U.S. Homefront during WWII, so I'm not exactly sure of all of the propaganda that was directed toward the homefront. If I were you, I would start researching based off this question and adjust if need be. 

[Uther]

Your IA scope is way too broad, you should focus on one aspect of a front, not even a front, but if possible a battle in particular. The example you have of propaganda is good, however I would focus on a battle aspect like the ammount of resources in a specific confrontation, or the leadership of someone in particular. 

For my example in my IA I did the battle of hastings 1066, and focus on the leadership of William of normandy and debated if it played a key role on deciding Norman victory.

[Gaby]

Please don't start two topics about the exact same thing, for no good reason whatsoever. I merged your topics together. 

[Ola]

Please don't start two topics about the exact same thing, for no good reason whatsoever. I merged your topics together. 

QL )) sorry for that )))

[badash_jani]

 

I think that it might be a little too vague. Since WWII was a total war, and there were a lot of things happening stateside during, you could write a perfectly sound historical investigation on one aspect. Economics, government, women and children, etc. 

So do you think that for example 'To what extent was the propaganda successful in formation of american homefront during the World War II?" is specific enough and would do?

 

That sounds good to me. It's specific enough that your scope wouldn't be too wide and you could write a focused investigation, but it's broad enough that you can track change. I would word the question a little better, but otherwise it's fine.